Ohio execution is 999th since '76
COLUMBUS, Ohio (Reuters) - A man who killed his mother-in-law and 5-year-old stepdaughter after a cocaine binge 20 years ago was executed by the state of Ohio on Tuesday, the 999th person put to death since United States reinstated capital punishment in 1976.
John Hicks, 49, died at 10:20 a.m. EST (1520 GMT) after an injection of lethal chemicals, officials at the Southern Ohio Correctional Facility in Lucasville said.
Just before his execution, Hicks told those present he was sorry for the pain he caused, saying he loved both of the people he killed and wished he could bring them back.
"It began with a syringe in my arm," he said, "and today I have a needle in my arm. I have come full circle and am at peace with it."
Hicks was sentenced to a jail term for killing his mother-in-law, Maxine Armstrong, and ordered executed for killing his step-daughter, Brandy Green.
He confessed to the slayings a few days after the bodies were found in Cincinnati, saying he tried to rob Armstrong because he needed more money for drugs, and smothered the little girl as she slept because she had seen him earlier and could identify him.
Hicks asked for clemency but Gov. Bob Taft said he had offered no reason to justify it.
"There is overwhelming evidence of guilt in this case. ... (He) confessed to the authorities on two separate occasions, and he fully admits he committed these crimes," Taft said.
Hicks was the 18th person executed in Ohio since the state resumed capital punishment in 1999.
Granted a special meal of his choice the evening before his execution, he asked for two steaks, a baked potato, salad, bread, apple pie, a soft drink and potato chips.
COLUMBUS, Ohio (Reuters) - A man who killed his mother-in-law and 5-year-old stepdaughter after a cocaine binge 20 years ago was executed by the state of Ohio on Tuesday, the 999th person put to death since United States reinstated capital punishment in 1976.
John Hicks, 49, died at 10:20 a.m. EST (1520 GMT) after an injection of lethal chemicals, officials at the Southern Ohio Correctional Facility in Lucasville said.
Just before his execution, Hicks told those present he was sorry for the pain he caused, saying he loved both of the people he killed and wished he could bring them back.
"It began with a syringe in my arm," he said, "and today I have a needle in my arm. I have come full circle and am at peace with it."
Hicks was sentenced to a jail term for killing his mother-in-law, Maxine Armstrong, and ordered executed for killing his step-daughter, Brandy Green.
He confessed to the slayings a few days after the bodies were found in Cincinnati, saying he tried to rob Armstrong because he needed more money for drugs, and smothered the little girl as she slept because she had seen him earlier and could identify him.
Hicks asked for clemency but Gov. Bob Taft said he had offered no reason to justify it.
"There is overwhelming evidence of guilt in this case. ... (He) confessed to the authorities on two separate occasions, and he fully admits he committed these crimes," Taft said.
Hicks was the 18th person executed in Ohio since the state resumed capital punishment in 1999.
Granted a special meal of his choice the evening before his execution, he asked for two steaks, a baked potato, salad, bread, apple pie, a soft drink and potato chips.
